Ladder leaders Sydney FC will be given a taste of what to expect in the finals when they take on bitter rivals Melbourne Victory on Saturday night.

While Kevin Muscat's side weren't all that flash in the opening three weeks, they showed last week that they could be back to their best with a brilliant win over Wellington.

The Sky Blues are the only team to remain perfect in the opening month but their legitimacy as title contenders will be put to the test here.

OUTSTANDING
Sydney FC has been outstanding in the opening four rounds.

Boasting four straight wins to start the campaign, they are actually on an eight-game winning streak when you take into account FFA Cup commitments.

What's more impressive is that they have kept clean sheets in all those games which is an A-league record.

One of their biggest problems last season was their inability to win at home with five wins in front of The Cove. This season they have started brightly Allianz by winning their only match at home so far 4-0.

DERBY DOMINANCE
It isn’t quite the 'Melbourne' Derby but the hatred between the Victory and Sydney FC runs deep and it would please the southerners no end to see another win from their team here.

They haven't lost to Sydney FC in their last nine contests and that includes a 3-0 win in the 2015 Grand Final.

Adding to the hoodoo they have over the Sky Blues is the fact they haven't suffered defeat in Sydney in their last three games.

HOW IT PANS OUT
Prior to their only two games this year there was a spate of goals between the teams whenever they played.

In four matches between December 2014 and November 2015 a whopping 5.25 goals per game were produced which showed just how freeflowing this match-up could be.

The last two games have been decided 1-0 (to Melbourne) and a 1-1.

Although Melbourne broke out last week against Wellington, it has to be remembered that two of their goals were penalties and that four of them were scored with the Phoenix down to 10 men.

A better guide on where they stand in the pecking order of the A-league is their back-to-back losses to Melbourne City. We think they are just below the top echelon of teams in the competition at the moment. A big loss for them is defender Daniel Georgievski who is out for a number of weeks due to a fractured collarbone.

When you weigh that up against Sydney FC's stingy defence the fact they have five individual scorers as opposed to Melbourne's three, this could be the game that Sydney finally get another win over the Victory.

THE TIP: Sydney FC - can they keep another clean sheet?

TOTAL GOALS OVER/UNDER 2.5: Go The Unders - we think this will be a tight affair